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Waleska

Feminine · “strong”

1962high 1981
#10917 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare8 girls in 2025

The Latin verb valere means to be strong or to be well, and English is full of it: value, valid, valor, prevail, convalesce. It is also how a Roman said goodbye — vale, be well. Valeria and its shortened forms all sit on that word, and Waleska is one of them.

How old is the name Waleska?

Waleska first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Waleska alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 500 people named Waleska are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Waleska most popular?

Waleska peaked in 1972, reaching #3404 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 7,513 places below that high. See the whole 1972 chart.

Compare this nameMore “W” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Waleska

Polish writes the sound of v with the letter w, so Valeska and Waleska are the same word and the choice of letter tells you which alphabet the family was writing in. That single fact explains most of the confusion around this name. The -ska ending is the feminine of the Polish adjectival surname ending -ski, which is why Polish women's surnames differ from their brothers'. The name reached American records twice over — with Polish and Czech families, and separately in Puerto Rico and Brazil, where Waleska has been in steady use since the middle of the last century and where the w is simply kept as it was found.

Meaningscholars disagree

strong, healthy

Usually taken as a Slavic form of Valeria, from Latin valere, to be strong or well, through the Roman family name Valerius. A separate account connects it with the Polish surname Walewska. The -ska ending is Slavic and marks a feminine adjective, which is how a great many Polish and Czech surnames are formed.

How the name formed

  1. valere
  2. Valeria
  3. Valeska
  4. Waleska

Related forms: Waleska · Valeska · Waleska

Pronouncing Waleska

vah-LES-kah

Three syllables, stress in the middle, with the w said as a v — that is what the letter means in Polish. English readers say WAH-less-kah with an English w, which is a different opening sound entirely.

Nicknames for Waleska

Moderate

WaleThe front, used as a family clip in Spanish-speaking households
LeskaThe back half, used in central European families
ValBorrowed from Valeria, which shares the root
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1962–20252111021819622025

US babies named Waleska per year from 1962 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#34041960s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1962
Most girls named
198121 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#3404reached in 1972
Change vs 2024
−33.3%8 in 2025, from 12
Waleska sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1981, with 21 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.

Waleska in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Waleska in Polish — same name
  • Valeska in German — same name
  • Waleska in Portuguese — same name

Waleskas among us

500

people named Waleska are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Waleska

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Juanetta test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Waleska's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Juanetta climbed just as high around 1933, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Juanetta's path sketches the road Waleska is walking now.

40%chance Waleska will feel dated by 2040
Waleska, aligned on its peakJuanetta· peak 1933not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-10 yrs+50 yrsJuanetta · #9061Waleska today
Waleska today is about where Juanetta stood in 1986 — 53 years past a #3406-sized peak. Within 15 years, Juanetta had drifted out of the mainstream charts.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Waleska sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Waleska beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Waleska in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Waleskathis name8#10917Edythe8#10917Tessie8#10917Drusilla8#10917Eugenie8#10917

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • A settled Latin root that anyone can check in an English dictionary.
  • It is in current use in Poland, Brazil and Puerto Rico alike.
  • Three short forms, one of which serves either child.
What to consider
  • The w is a v in the language the spelling comes from, and English readers will not know that.
  • Valeska is the commoner spelling in most places and will be offered as a correction.
  • Three syllables and an unfamiliar shape mean it will be repeated and spelled out often.

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Waleska

Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Waleskas are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Waleska are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How popular is the name Waleska in 2025?
Waleska ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Waleska?
About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Waleska — 8 in all.
Will my child share the name Waleska with classmates?
Waleska will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Waleska

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Waleska? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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